The Postman Always Rings Twice

A passionate affair that alternates between love and hate, lust and death, Tay Garnett’s The Postman Always Rings Twice, based on the sensational novel by James M. Cain, is also a meditation on fate and whether human beings can have any influence on it. Drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) takes a job at a filling station owned by Nick Smith (Cecil Kelloway) who is married to a blond bombshell half his age named Cora (Lana Turner). Murder ensues, along with a protracted story of double crosses, switchbacks, and courtroom revelations. Turner and Garfield maintain steamy chemistry throughout, especially for the period, and cinematographer Wagner adds tension through shadows and fog, notably during the nighttime drive along the cliff. Cain’s novel had already been adapted in France (The Last Turning, 1939) and Italy (Obsession, 1943), and the author’s later novels had already become smash hits at the cinema (Double Indemnity in 1944 and Mildred Pierce in 1945). What took Hollywood so long to make this one? MGM had acquired the rights at the time of the steamy novel’s publication in 1934 but waited twelve years in fear of the Production Code, which was brand new at the time.